Copperbelt Livelihood Enhancement Project - Zambia

Gift of Goats Help Woman Become Self-Reliant

Project Participant Lontiya was forced to rely on her husband’s support throughout their 24 years of marriage. She is unable to have children, and being childless in their community made her an outcast and topic of gossip. 
Cultural tradition allowed Lontiya’s husband, Sikasunda, to marry a second wife and now at 61 years old, he has three children. Lontiya became angry and bitter toward her husband and said she detested crossing paths with her rival. 
“I felt so isolated and lonely even when I was in a group of friends,” Lontiya said. “I thought my husband would accept my [bareness] but he spends most of his time with his younger wife.”
Through Heifer International’s training on the 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, Lontiya learned to accept her reality and respond with actions of peace and reconciliation. 
In 2011, she also received seven goats that provide nutritious milk and manure for organic fertilizer. “The goats provide company, especially when I am alone,” Lontiya said. “They entertain me and are sometimes naughty because they are curious animals. They want to chew on everything around them.”
After Passing on the Gift® (POG), Lontiya was able to sell two goats and buy agricultural inputs. When her home’s roof collapsed last year she bought iron sheets to replace the thatch roofing. Now, she finds satisfaction knowing she is a dependable wife and can share the benefits she earns with her husband. “This has brought profound joy in my life,” Lontiya said.
Last year, she hosted a visiting U.S. team that came to learn more the project’s sucess. “My home is often visited by people from other countries—something I never imagined. I am always delighted to host and I hope they will come again,” Lontiya said. 
Lontiya said she is grateful for Heifer International’s support and is thankful it continues to enrich the lives of communities worldwide. 

The Copperbelt Rural Livelihood Enhancement Support Project has been operating in four communities in Masaiti, Mpongwe, Luanshya and Kalulushi districts in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The livelihoods of people in the target communities have continued to improve due to integrated agriculture, nutrition education and sanitation activities. This is evident in the increased household income, access to food, improved diets and improved hygiene.

Heifer International continues playing a leading role in implementing activities in partnership with the National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC), Village Water Zambia (VWZ) and the government ministries of Community Development, Maternal and Child Health (MCDMCH) and Agriculture & Livestock (MAL). The partners continued providing training and monitoring project activities. To enhance the partnership and project ownership by participants, review and planning meetings were held monthly at the community level.

Through a number of interventions, 6,462 families have been reached. 364 families have been supported with livestock, 753 with vegetable production, 248 with human nutrition, 221 with agroforestry, 60 with conservation farming and 4,816 with water and sanitation activities.